USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > San Francisco, a history of the Pacific coast metropolis, Volume II > Part 40
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There was no time in the brief history of the municipality when such power was conferred on any official, but the jealous withholding of it, as has been shown, did not save the people from heavy draughts made on their purses for which they received no adequate return. That there should have been frequent, and occasion- ally serious troubles as a consequence of this ineffectiveness is not surprising. It is astonishing, however, and a highly interesting sociological phenomenon, well worth attentive study, that despite the alternations of good and bad government, and the sporadic outbursts directed against various forms of political abuses and shortcom- ings, that the people went about their various ways unconcernedly, and carried on the multitude of activities which they did not entrust to public servants in a manner satisfactory to themselves, and on the whole with results far more creditable to
Bad Govern- ment Only a Drag
INTERIOR VIEW OF THE SUTRO BATHS
VIEW IN THE NILES CANYON, ONE OF THE BEAUTY SPOTS WITHIN AN HOUR'S RIDE OF THE CITY
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the community than those achieved by the men employed by them to direct their public affairs. Indeed, when a retrospect is taken it is seen that in nearly every instance in which this undirected efficiency received a check, if it was not directly caused by political interference it was usually aggravated by it, and in no case did the servants of the people succeed in relieving a bad situation.
Individualism has measurably gone out of fashion, and curiously enough that result has been brought about by its successes. Had unrequested effort not resulted in stimulating productivity, and the creation of great wealth, there would be less agitation over its distribution. The manifold activities of the great and growing modern cities exerted for the benefit of the weak, the inefficient and the unwilling would not be heard of if the condition which the superfluous produces did not exist. Charity, and the disposition to help one another has always asserted itself in some form, but it finds its best expression under circumstances which abun- dance create. It may be true that when aid is perfunctorily or automatically rendered it lacks the proper spirit, but practically considered assistance extended to the helpless in a substantial form does more to ameliorate wretchedness than good wishes. That is why we pay a tribute of admiration to the man who assists the struggling without inquiring too narrowly how he came to be able to assist, and applaud public benefactors without questioning their motives. In like manner we accept the contributions to our sum total of satisfactions made by men who put up handsome buildings, or who erect fine residences, without challenging their objects. They may be inspired by the spirit of ostentation, and may even have at bottom a desire to create envy, but they could never accomplish the latter result in the minds of a people desirous of making the most of life and of getting the best that can be obtained from the putting forth of the energies of the capable.
It is because this is true that the details of those activities which tell the story of what a community lives for, and how near it comes to attaining its desires are infinitely more interesting than the recital of triumphis on the battlefield, or ac- counts of political intrigues or even the making of laws. Gibbon in one of his exquisitely balanced sentences drew the inference that a Roman emperor, whose enemies gave him a very bad name, could not have been as great a tyrant as charged because he found evidence that the people enjoyed a reasonable degree of prosperity during his reign; and in another place the author experienced dis- trust of an allegation of excessive taxation for a like reason. The historian was a profound philosopher, but he failed to note the fact that the mass of mankind is far more philosophical than the students of the schools, and contrives a great deal of the time to give practical effect to its philosophy. Individuals may look with apprehension upon the effort to extract satisfaction from life, but the people as a whole, when they are not diverted from their optimism, are always disposed to make the best of circumstances. If this characteristic had not prevailed in San Francisco its inhabitants must have long ago abandoned the contest. That they did not at any time in its brief career regard any situation as hopeless, or enter- tain a belief at all at variance with that of the founders of the City, that it must one day became a great metropolis shakes confidence in the too common assump- tion that men think more of the mode of attaining their desires than of the at- tainment of the thing desired.
If the investigator of conditions existing in San Francisco between 1849 and 1912 makes the mistake of confining his attention to the expressions of discontent
Success of Individualism Promotes Antagonism
Philosophie Attitude of the People
People Rise Above Troubles
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which were freely uttered during the period he must inevitably reach the conclu- sion that life was hardly worth the living; but if he does the sensible thing, and instead of permitting himself to be unduly impressed by what was said and notes what the people were really doing while the pessimists were telling them they were marching straight to financial and other kinds of ruin he will be forced to the conclusion, that, somehow or other, the inhabitants of a city designed by Nature to be prosperous and great will work out its destiny, and that despite blundering methods, and other drawbacks they will manage to extract a reasonable share of the comforts of life. That this was what happened during the period imme- diately following the gold discovery which was marked by disastrous fires and serious political troubles, and municipal mismanagement will hardly be denied by any one who has taken the trouble to note how the people employed themselves, and how well disposed they were to extol San Francisco's attractions and supe- riority over all rivals. This latter state of mind could not have existed had there not been a solid foundation for the claims put forward, and the fact that the story of the period is checkered with troubles only emphasizes the ability of the people to rise superior to them.
A review of those activities of the people of San Francisco which can be con- sidered apart from their political development, and which were only affected by regulation, exhibits a capacity for what may be called group organization which compares favorably with that displayed by other communities with a larger ex- perience, and who had more time in which to accomplish results. This ability may have produced those lines of cleavage which sometimes became apparent in the failure to do what the hustling element in the community calls "team work." Inde- pendence of thought produces divergent theories respecting courses of action, and men are apt to be as tenacious of their theories concerning municipal management as they are when considering such subjects as protection and free trade. Between 1856 and 1898 the laissez faire idea dominated San Francisco. Its adherents scarcely viewed with patience any proposition which involved collective action by the community. It even viewed with distrust the suggestion that a fine public building, and a beautiful park would prove valuable municipal assets. The indi- vidualistic spirit was intense, and the average taxpayer was profoundly convinced that the public servant could not be depended upon to do anything in a satisfactorily economical manner, and thus believing he assented to a continuation of the plans of improvement introduced at an earlier period which were wholly governed by considerations of the immediate present.
Thus it happened that well into the Nineties it was possible for citizens to view with satisfaction the reports of a street superintendent who enumerated im- provements made through private initiative aggregating hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, without giving much thought to the fact that little was being done to preserve and keep in good order the thoroughfares thus provided. Taking at random a report of this sort we find noted 2,667 feet of streets paved with basalt blocks, six miles of sewers constructed, 13,830 lineal feet of streets graded, 20,344 lineal feet of streets macadamized, 3,987 lineal feet of planking laid down, 124,277 square feet of bituminous rock pavement, 18,674 feet of plank and ma- cadam walks, 25,260 feet of curbing, 5,760 lineal feet of brick walks, the total cost of which was nearly $700,000. This was in 1887, a year as fairly typical as any of the preceding ten years, and indicative of the exertions put forward by
Individual Effort Secures Streets
Lack of Confidence in Officials
CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
LANE HOSPITAL
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individuals to make their property accessible and thereby increase its value by facilitating intercourse. The improvements of this character, which in some years cost those who made them more than a million dollars, were often in response to a speculative impulse rather than to any pressing need, and were in no sense the outcome of organized plans. The streets were laid down on the map, the realty bordering them was in the possession of private individuals, and they were ener- getic enough to do for themselves what the City could not, or at least never at- tempted to do in its capacity of conductor of affairs of the community.
By this means the City was provided with hundreds of miles of streets and sewers, which the municipality "accepted," ,and in doing so assumed the obliga- tion of perpetually keeping them in good condition. Although many millions of dollars were expended in producing the result described the spirit of expediency was responsible for the creation of future difficulties. The eagerness to extend the area of accessibility caused property owners to accept without challenge regu- lations prescribing the character of the material to be used in street paving. The narrow spirit engendered by the dollar limit caused those who had the determina- tion of such matters to consider only durability. Sanitary suggestions, and those made by the advocates of comfort and appearances were entirely disregarded, and the thoroughfares taken over by the City were generally composed of basalt blocks, loosely laid in the sand. They proved difficult to keep clean, and the sub- terranean installations, made as they frequently were in a careless fashion, resulted in an uneven and unsatisfactory roadway which was endured for some years. But despite its great initial cost towards the close of the period the basalt block was rapidly being replaced by smooth pavements in all the downtown streets. The plank and macadam walks which the easy going ordinances permitted down to the Nineties, were superseded in most parts of the City by cement, San Francisco being one of the earliest communities to discover the value of that material for the purpose. As in the case of the roadways property owners took the initiative in adopting cement, and the municipality compelled conformation only when the exceptional owner made the contrast flagrant by neglect. Then an ordinance was adopted which secured an approach to uniformity, and in a comparatively brief period the unsightly and unsanitary plank sidewalk disappeared from all parts of the city except in some of the outlying districts where infrequent use had caused them to endure longer than in the more densely populated sections.
The outlying districts were not very remote from the business center of the City in the beginning of the Eighties. In 1883 Divisadero street was beginning to take on a residential character, but there were plenty of blank spaces between that thoroughfare and Van Ness avenue which was considered well out of town at that time. A suggestion that Van Ness avenue was destined to be a great cross town business street made ten years later excited some amused comment. As a matter of fact in the year spoken of the imagination of San Francisco had not found itself. There were still many who could feel a mild surprise when venturesome men showed an inclination to break away from the narrow precincts in which business had established itself in the early days, and when the proprietor of the "Chronicle" in 1890 decided to build at Market and Kearny streets the move was regarded as something in the nature of a bold flight westward. Not that there were any doubts respecting the future of Market street; there was a well settled
Improved Streets and Sidewalks
An Undevel- oped Imagi- nation
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conviction that it was to be a great thoroughfare, but there was a feeling that it was a departure somewhat ahead of the time.
The building erected was also looked upon as a daring innovation. It was the first steel frame structure put up in San Francisco, and although only ten stories high it was classed as a soaring skyscraper. The knowing ones shook their heads and speculated on what would happen if there was another earthquake like that of 1868, but the owner backed by the opinion of Burnham & Root the Chicago architects who designed it, was confident that the new style of construc- tion could be made to resist any temblor that might visit the city. It is not im- probable that the importation of Eastern ideas had some effect in forming the first adverse judgment, for San Francisco architects were not then as confident of their abilities as they became later, and viewed with distrust the invasion of their field by rivals. There was some feeling produced by the necessity of obtaining the rolled steel beams from Eastern mills, but this soon disappeared, and it was not long before the steel frame structure on the corner of Market, Geary and Kearny streets was rivalled in size and later in height. There was no immediate revolu- tion in business architecture, but the introduction of the new style exercised a modifying influence on the disposition towards flamboyancy which had manifested itself during the Eighties, whose most conspicuous feature was pinnacles, cupolas and even spires, all of which were loaded with the kind of ornamentation sup- plied by the industrious designers of the sawmills. This efflorescence, in such marked contrast to the severity which prevailed for many years after the con- flagrations of pioneer days, toward the end of the Nineties began to give way to a better style, and at the opening of the century there were numerous creditable examples of architecture. Plastered brick fronts were superseded by stone, which material was used with great effectiveness. Among the notable buildings of this period, whose facades remain to testify the advances made in architecture up to the date of the great fire are the Claus Spreckels, Mills and Flood buildings, and the Emporium. Their contents were totally destroyed in the conflagration of 1906, but the walls survived and they were restored to their former appear- ance.
On the recrudescence of business activity after 1895 there was much building in the City, but the wide area appropriated to commercial purposes in a measure tended to disguise the extent of the operations of constructors. There was no concentration in any particular locality, and therefore no impressive effect was produced. Some of the best buildings in the City were erected in districts rarely penetrated by visitors, and to some extent unknown even to inhabitants who had made their home in San Francisco for years. These new constructions, surrounded as they were by the less pretentious efforts of earlier years, did not materially alter the aspect of the localities in which they were huilt. It was not uncommon to find a ten-story structure looming amidst modest two-story frames which were in some instances still inhabited by families. This was particularly true of the district south of Market street where costly modern fireproof structures could be seen alongside cottages with flower-covered verandas. Indeed, except in a very restricted area, there was no approach to a homogeneous style of construction or use of buildings, a fact which so disturbed the energetic boosters of the open- ing of the century that resort was had to the plan of pictorially regrouping existing buildings to show what had been accomplished. Thus disposed they made
Building Activity and Improved Architecture
First Steel Frame Structure in San Francisco
A CROWD AT ONE OF THE RACETRACKS
THE OLD CHUTES, AT TENTH AVENUE AND FULTON STREET
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an impressive appearance, and suggested what the City might look like when the new construction had completely usurped the place of the old.
It is interesting to note that the architectural progress prior to the fire of 1906 was along the same lines as that which has marked the reconstruction with one notable exception. Up to the time of the disaster the merits of concrete had not impressed themselves upon builders, but the tendency toward steel frames and fire-resisting materials was strong, as will be inferred from the long list of that class of buildings at the time of the fire. Among the most conspicuous of these were the Crocker building, the Fairmore and St. Francis hotels, the Claus Spreckels building, the Flood building, the Grant building, Hotel Hamilton, Hibernian Savings and Loan Society, the Hall of Justice, the Kamm building, the "Chronicle" and its 17-story Annex, Mercantile Trust Company, Merchants' Exchange, Mills building, Monadnock building, Mutual Life building, Pacific Telephone and Telegraph building, the Postoffice, the Rialto, Security building, Shreeve building, Sloane building, City of Paris building, Union Trust Com- pany, Wells Fargo Company. The Emporium, whose handsome facade was a feature of Market street, was not wholly of this style of construction, but was sub- stantially built, as was the Palace hotel, the Phelan block, erected early in the Eighties, the Hobart building and a few others which would not come in the classification A, but which had a sufficiently modern air to help advertise the City as progressive.
The domestic architecture during this period also underwent a transition. Throughout the Eighties and well into the Nineties owners and architects were domi- nated by the bay window fad. Although an adaptation it was deemed particularly suitable, as it seemed to respond to the exaggerated San Franciscan desire for sun- light. Whatever the cause, houses with bay windows multiplied. The effort to secure originality of treatment was not always successful, as it was too often ac- companied by a riotous use of the product of the jig saw. During the Seventies an association was formed with the worthy motive of promoting thrift and the desire for a home. It was known as the Real Estate Associates. It secured tracts of land in localities usually remote from the business and at some distance from the established residence districts. Some of these selections were made facing plazas and squares that had not yet been improved. On these were constructed rows of houses of frame, two stories in height, all of which were alike externally and internally. These were sold on easy terms to people who had only two objects in view, and who were necessarily compelled to subordinate any esthetic aspira- tions they may have had to considerations of thrift. Almost concurrently with the promotion work of the Real Estate Associates there was a pronounced develop- ment of the Building and Loan Association idea, which in its earlier stages adhered with tolerable closeness to the Philadelphia plan of cooperative building, but later lost that character. During the time of the popularity of the building and loan associations many thrifty persons were enabled through their instrumentality to secure homes. As in the case of the Real Estate Associates the effect was to promote uniformity in building as there were usually speculative builders who were able to demonstrate their ability to save money for their patrons by using plans already in hand. It was owing to an excess of energy by men who made a spe- cialty of this sort of building, and to the undue stimulus given to such operations
Fire Proof Construction Before 1906
Domestic Architecture Exhibits Uniformity
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by those who took shares in building clubs merely as an investment, that the organizations owed their subsequent decline in popularity.
A Demand for Sites With Views
It was not until the Nineties that a disposition to depart from uniformity asserted itself. Prior to that date there were sporadic manifestations of a pro- pensity to impress by the erection of costly structures which indulgent critics called palaces, but the desire to make the home indicate the culture of its owner did not become prevalent until the rapidly accumulating wealth of the community became more diffused. This motive had a marked effect in improving residential architecture, and the increasing attractiveness of the City, which was rapidly becoming the goal of the prosperous who made fortunes in the mining or other industries of the state, and of the neighboring states and territories, also played its part in the change. The style of building was not only showing improvement, but tempted by the increased accessibility of portions of the City once compara- tively neglected, the prosperous citizen and stranger were inclined to pick out for adornment with beautiful homes the choice 'spots affording views. The num- ber of these was not limited, and unlike cities on plains an ultra fashionable quarter was difficult of establishment on this account. There were admirable sites overlooking City and bay, and there were others from which the marine feature was absent that proved equally attractive, but toward the close of the century the water prospect had gained ascendancy and the streets west of Van Ness with, a view of the harbor were affected by the socially pretentious. The avenue itself had already throughout much of its length taken on an almost exclu- sively residential character, although the apartment house was beginning to invade its precincts, and clubdom was manifesting an inclination to establish itself on the spacious thoroughfare which was also becoming the favorite locale for churches.
Criticisms of Strangers
The comparisons which attempt to measure present achievements against earlier performances are rarely flattering to the past. It is easy to convey the impression that a city whose progress has been rapid presented a village-like ap- pearance a few years earlier. But all things are relative, and to acquire a fair idea of what San Francisco looked like in the early Eighties it is safer to trust to the description of disinterested contemporaries than to infer from a statistical presentation. There is no lack of contemporary data and it is usually very com- plimentary. In most cases the defects which the resident saw so plainly and so freely condemned were overlooked by strangers. Perhaps those who visited San Francisco in days nearer to pioneer times were able to realize the difficulties that had to be overcome, and were less disposed to underrate them than those who sur- mounted them. Something of the sort must have influenced the Princess von Racowitza, who saw San Francisco in the early Eighties and subsequently wrote in her autobiography: "The new country became civilized with astonishing ra- pidity. Very soon the rough plats of ground were ornamented with fine streets and beautiful buildings. San Francisco blossomed into the most elegant and fascinating town in the States." A similar kindly judgment was passed by James Anthony Fronde a little later, although he indulged in no comparisons, but con- fined his comment to expressions of wonderment that so much should have been accomplished in so short a time.
Critie and
Architect
In the face of generous admissions of the kind quoted it may be regarded as a case of traveling outside the record for a San Francisco annalist to declare that the eulogies were not deserved, and to repeat the criticism which applied to
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VIEW ACROSS THE GOLDEN GATE FROM LAND'S END STATION This view, tourists declare, surpasses anything of the kind in the world
THE OCEAN FRONT, LOOKING SOUTH FROM THE CLIFF HOUSE
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the architecture of most American cities at the time, and more particularly to the Pacific coast metropolis whose principal building material lent itself so read- ily to vagaries. But truth demands the confession that the advances of the City along good architectural lines had been very slow and that as late as 1890 it was possible for a serious historian to write of Sutro's baths: "It is perhaps the com- pletest establishment of the kind ever seen, and in many respects outshines the imperial baths of ancient Rome." Doubtless this reflected the local judgment at the time, but we now know that it was the product of an environment in which oiled paper was accepted as an excellent substitute for art glass, and in which decalcomania was held in high esteem. It may be absurd to speak of a decadence as occurring in so brief a period as that embraced in the life of the modern City of San Francisco, but there is not the slightest doubt that there was a distinct step backward after the Seventies, which may be attributed to the leveling process of "averaging up" which followed the accumulation of wealth and its more thorough dissemination. For several years San Francisco enjoyed the presence of a dis- proportionate number of good architects, but they were superseded by teachers who taught "art" to all who were ambitious to learn, and while the process of cul- tivating the entire community progressed a great admiration for "hand painted" things arose which sometimes obscured the fact that the application of colors by hand did not always insure artistic results.
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